The Cabot Family Reunion
by OA-SVU
Summary: Alex gets herself into a pickle and needs Olivia's help.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Alex hung up the phone with a sigh. She loved her family, she really did. But sometimes they were too much. Everyone had an opinion of her family; rich, stuck up. Alex knew different, they were kind, loving and always supportive of her. She grew up in money but her parents were never tight with it. She had two brother and two sisters, all older than her. They'd all grown up close, and were successful in their own right. But worst of all, from her perspective anyway was that they had all got married and settled down, and ever since Alex's mum had been hinting at her to do the same, the pressure of which finally got to her and she blurted out she had been in a steady relationship for a while and it was serious.

Alex's family knew she was gay when she was a teenager and they never treated her any different or loved her any less, she is who she is and that's all they care about. Her mum had been on the phone with her for the past hour, convincing her to bring her 'girlfriend' to this year's Cabot family reunion in two weeks. The only problem was Alex didn't have a girlfriend to bring, let alone one named Olivia-which she had told her mum a while back in a pressured conversation about her personal life-again.

It would be fine, she knew it would. There was no problem not really. She could just tell her family she was no longer with Olivia, but then again why wouldn't she have told them already. No, no she had a better idea, she's just ask Olivia to go with her, easy, why wouldn't Olivia want to go to her parent's for a weeklong family reunion pretending to be her girlfriend when she could just about stomach her-yeah she was screwed.

Alex walked into the precinct a week later, she had been avoided speaking to Olivia after she attempted to ask her about the reunion four days before when she embarrassingly went over to the detective's desk, stuttered a few unrecognisable words blushed crimson red and turned round to walk away without waiting for a response from Olivia. It all happened so quick Olivia didn't hear what Alex had originally said and everyone was left extremely confused.

Three days before Alex was set to head to her parents she decided to bite the bullet and just ask Olivia to go with her, explaining her situation. She knew Olivia would never get the time off this close but she figured if she asked, she wouldn't have to lie to her parents by saying Olivia was working.

Knocking on Olivia's apartment door at 7pm, Alex began pacing in the corridor. It wasn't until she looked up to see Olivia leaning on the door frame, arms crossed trying to suppress her laughter did she realise she's been caught and blushed once more. After a few seconds which felt like hours, she plucked up her courage and walked past Olivia and into her apartment.

"Take a seat" Olivia broke Alex out of her thought and pointed to the sofa in the middle of the room. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No, No I'm good thanks, look, this is gonna sound really-really unbelievable but I have a problem and I really need your help"

Noticing the nervousness in Alex's voice, Olivia quickly sat down and told Alex to continue.

"You see, my parent, who contrary to popular belief are amazing people, and they've always only ever wanted the best for me and my brother and sisters are holding this year's Cabot family reunion. All the family go, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, you name it they all go. Anyway my family is huge, and by brother and sisters are all married and settled down, and three of them have kids. Anyway I'm going off here, sorry. So yeah The Cabot family reunion is starting this weekend for the week, and like I said my whole family will be there. But you see I may have accidently, under pressure told my mum that I had a girlfriend that I'd been seeing for a long time now but she was always too busy to come up to the family parties. And now, now she wants me to bring her to this reunion and won't take no for an answer. But that's not all; I may have also told her my imaginary girlfriend's name was Olivia. And you are the only Olivia I know, and I know you can't get the time off to come, not that you'd wanna pretend to be my girlfriend for a week but I was hoping if I told my family you were working they could maybe ring you and you could play along? It would mean the world to me, really. Then in a few weeks I can say we split up or something...Liv? Are you listening?"

Olivia was sitting there, staring at Alex, trying her best not to laugh, but she just couldn't help herself and laughter soon filled the small apartment.

"You're cute when you panic"

"Liv this isn't funny, please help?"

"Alex, breathe, relax, it's ok"

"No Liv it isn't, I screwed up I Know, but she' just wants me to be happy, and she was always trying to set me up on dates so I just said the first thing I could think of, then when she asked for a name, yours just came out, I'm sorry"

"Alex didn't I just tell you to breathe? Seriously it's fine, besides I've already packed for the week" Olivia said it with such a huge grin laughing at the shock on Alex's face.

"Huh?"

"Well you see, about six months ago, I got a very surreal phone call off once Mrs Emily Cabot, asking if I was the girlfriend of her daughter Alex, because I was the only Detective Olivia she could find working for NYPD. She rings me up once a week and we talk, mostly about you. She rang me two weeks ago asking if I'd be able to come to the reunion, I spoke to Don then to get the time off"

"YOU SPEAK TO MY MOTHER?"

"Hey, don't shout at me! If you hadn't have gave my name and job title she wouldn't have rang. I was doing you a favour" The whole time Olivia was smiling like a kid at Christmas whilst Alex was having trouble thinking. Alex groaned and covered her face with her hands.

"I can't believe this, I'm going to kill my mother-"

"Oh come on Alex, she was just looking out for you, besides I'm sure she likes me" Olivia still couldn't wipe the smile off of her face. "So I'll pick you up from work Friday and we'll set off from there? I told your mum we'd come down Friday night so we could have a quiet dinner before everyone arrived" Alex groaned again but nodded,

"Thanks Liv, really, you shouldn't have to do this but I'm glad you are, I'm lucky to have you as a friend"

"Alex, really its fine, your mum seems lovely, and I could do with a break from work, so Friday?"

"Yeah, sure Liv, well I best go and pack, seeing as we're leaving a day early, really thank you again, and I promise I'll sort this all out soon"

"Its fine, now off you go, see you in work tomorrow" and with that Olivia showed Alex out and went into her living room to pick up the phone. After having it ring a few times a woman answered at the other end "Cabot residence"

"Emily, it's Olivia, I've just spoken to Alex, we'll be setting off Friday evening like you suggested, yeah we should be there by seven, no- that's great, I'm looking forward to meeting you too, yeah ok, bye" With that Olivia hung up and went to double check her bags. She had a week to woo Alex and show her she cared for her too, hopefully this all wouldn't backfire.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Friday came round all too soon for Alex who at 16:00pm was continuously pacing in her office. They had agreed this morning to leave earlier to avoid traffic and Olivia was due to pick her up any moment. A knock on her office door brought her out of her panic. The door opened after Alex shouted come in, and in walked Olivia, grinning like a Cheshire cat at Alex's clear discomfort of the situation.

"Come on, it's time to set off!"

"Liv, aren't you nervous, I mean you're pretending to be my girlfriend and meet my parents, what if they don't like you/ what if they know we're lying? Oh god they'll hate me, disown me...will you stop laughing!" Liv looked on as Alex went off on another tangent and started chuckling.

"Hey, calm down, it will all be fine, your mum won't know we're pretending, just try not to act all stiff and nervous when I touch you-"

"Touch me?"

"Well we're meant to be a couple Alex, of course I'm going to touch you in front of your parents, we'll hug and if you're lucky _*wink*_ I may even kiss you" with that Olivia turned around and walk out, Alex could hear her laughing down the corridor before she finally shook herself out of her fit and ran after Olivia with a huge smile on her face *_Olivia's going to be kissing me*_

The drive up was a little awkward to say the least. It was clear Alex was trying to say something but kept on opening then closing her mouth when nothing came out. Olivia thought this nervous and flustered side of Alex was cute and let it drag out for a little longer before she caved, reached over and squeezed Alex's thigh, not removing her hand after. Alex's initial reaction was to tense but after a couple of seconds she slowly relaxed and looked over at Olivia smiling.

"Relax Alex, you need to get used to me touching you, if you tense every time I do people will think I beat you"

"I know, I know. This is just all so sudden, and I still feel bad about you pretending to be a lesbian to help me out, in front of my parents no less!"

"Alex, just it's one of our nights out when I pretend to be your girlfriend when men don't leave you alone" Olivia was beaming, and a little confused. How could Alex not know she was gay? She was sure she's mentioned it before. When Alex relaxed a bit more, they both settled down and discussed their history with each other, some of which Olivia had mentioned in the phone calls of Alex's mum previously.

At the mention of this Alex groaned, "I still can't believe she rang you, well actually I can, I can't believe you played along"

"Well I figured you'd said it for a reason, it was no big deal really, your mum seems really nice, not at all like the reputation your family has" This made Alex smile, she knew her family were not as they were portrayed, and now Olivia would know too.

A few hours and a couple of stops later, they pulled up to Alex's parent's estate. To say Olivia was shocked was an understatement. The place was huge. Miles of ground, lots of trees and just a relaxing atmosphere, she's never seen anything like it. Pulling up near the front of the house, Alex's parents were already at the door, a look of pure elation edged on their faces at finally meeting Olivia. Emily Cabot shot of the front porch and ran to give Alex a huge hug, her father not far behind. Olivia was smiling at the scene when suddenly Emil let go of Alex and hugged Olivia with just as much force.

"Welcome Olivia, it's so good to put a face to the voice, welcome to the family."

"Thank you Mrs Cabot"

"Now now, what have I told you on the phone dear, its Emily none of that Mrs Cabot rubbish understand?"

"Yes Emily and thank you for having me"

"Nonsense dear, I'm glad you could finally make it, I swear you work more than Alex here does"

After another fatherly hug from Alex's dad to Olivia everyone headed inside with their bags. It was starting to get dark out and dinner was nearly ready. To say the house was stunning was an understatement. Olivia walked through gobsmacked at the beautifully decorated mansion. Simple yet elegant, what she really loved was the walls aligned with pictures of the entire family. Stopping every now and then to look at pictures of Alex growing up and playing with what she assumed was the rest of the family. Alex explained she was going to get Olivia settled in her room when she noticed her parents looking at her funny.

"Alex dear, you're a grown woman, and we know you've been dating Olivia a while now, we're most certainly not going to make you sleep in separate rooms!" Alex nodded and smiled at her mum whilst trying to keep her blush away unsuccessfully. She walked upstairs and down the corridor towards her room with Olivia in tow who she could still hear laughing.

Once in Alex's old room which was the size of Olivia's apartment they unpacked their stuff. Olivia looked over at Alex and noticed her staring at the bed. Stifling a laugh, she walked over to Alex and hugged her from behind whilst resting her chin on Alex's shoulder. She slowly started to kneed the tense muscles in Alex's back and didn't stop until Alex had all but relaxed and was leaning her back into Olivia's chest. She'd barely heard Olivia saying the bed would be fine she was starting to feel aroused but held back a moan. She did hold her breath though when Olivia leaned in again, kissed her neck delicately and just once before stopping altogether. Olivia took her hand and led her out of the bedroom and back downstairs for dinner with Alex's parents. Every now and then she'd look over at Alex and smile at the dopey smile her face still held. *_Have I read her wrong? Is Olivia gay?*_

To say dinner was a success was an understatement. The evening was relaxing, fun, and the conversation flowed. Olivia got along so well with Alex's family that Alex could easily forget this was all pretend and see her life like this with Olivia. After dinner was cleared they made the way into the family room where Alex pulled Olivia down next to her then shocking Olivia snuggled up next to her on the love seat. Olivia hid the shock well and held Alex tighter to her body, sharing their warmth. Alex was so relaxed she didn't remember falling asleep and woke up when she realised she was being carried upstairs, she let herself enjoy the moment and only properly let on she was awake when she felt Olivia settle her on the bed and take off her shoes.

"Sorry, I was trying to do this without waking you"

"Don't be silly, you should have woken me, you didn't have to carry me up, although I'm surprised you managed to detective" Olivia though it was nice to see Alex tease her, she really enjoyed this relaxed side of her.

"Well in that case I'm going to get changed into my night stuff be back in a sec" and with that she picked up her clothes and went into the en-suite to change. Alex quickly changed and used the other bathroom outside the room to wash up before climbing into a side of the bed and turning her bedside lamp off. Her heart was beating fast and she was suddenly very anxious about sharing a bed with Olivia. When Olivia came out she climbed into bed and turned her lamp off before turning to face Alex.

"I had a great time tonight, your family are great, really" Alex was touched and smiled at Olivia before saying night and went to sleep. Olivia stayed awake only a few minutes before and fell into a peaceful sleep herself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The sun was streaming through the curtains when Olivia woke up. Noticing she was warmer than usual she opened her eyes and found herself spooned up to Alex's back. She thought about moving but really wanted to enjoy the moment. She was about to close her eyes again when she felt something move at the bottom of the bed. Picking her head up she looked down and saw a little girl playing with a doll at the end of the bed, quietly talking to her doll.

"Hey" she whispered as not to wake Alex up. The little girls head whipped round and showed off her teeth in a huge smile when she realised someone was up. She carefully got off the bed and walked to the head of the bed before holding up her arms, telling Olivia she wanted to be picked up. Not wanting to refuse the little girl Olivia detached herself from Alex and sat up picked the little girl Olivia detached herself from Alex and leaned over to pick up the girl before leaning back against the headboard with the girl on her lap facing her.

"Hi, I'm lexi and I'm 5" Olivia's heart melted. The little girl was just too adorable; she was like mini ales with little blonde ringlets and bright blue eyes. She was holding up five fingers to show Olivia her age.

"Well hello Lexi who's five" Lexi beamed at Olivia and waited for Olivia to say something else which she soon did. "I'm Olivia, I'm a friend of your aunts" Lexi shook her head no and frowned. "No mummy said you're aunt Lexi's girlfriend, was my mummy lying?" Olivia was floored by the girls intellect and honestly and was about to reply when Alex turned over and replied for her "No your mummy wasn't lying baby"

"Aunt Lexi!" Little lexi threw herself over Olivia and into the arms of her aunt was now hugging and squeezing her until she couldn't stop laughing. "What are you doing in here Angel?" Alex and Olivia sat in and listened for a good five minutes on how the family had arrived early and lexi wanted to see her 'favouritest' aunt Lexi but was told she was sleeping, so quietly snuck in and sat waiting until they woke, and asked not to tell her mum because she was told to stay away. Both Olivia and Alex were laughing at the end of the story but then promised not to say anything. Alex got up and threw Lexi onto the bed and tickled her before heading into the bathroom to change. Olivia who had never seen this side to Alex sat back and enjoyed the scene in front of her. When Alex went to change Lexi crawled up and sat next to Olivia and answered questions on who else was already here.

After both adults changing and having another tickle fight they made their way downstairs, with Lexi insisting on going down on Olivia's shoulders to 'make all her other cousins jealous because she got to do it first' which promptly made Olivia and Alex laugh and oblige the mini Alex.

The day passed in a blur with Olivia meeting Alex's two brothers Michael who was married to Lisa and had two twin sons Mathew and John who were 6. James was married to Maria and had one daughter Kaylee who was 7 and a son Tomos who was 4. Julia was the oldest of the sisters and was mother to little Lexi and her older brother Damon who was the eldest of the children at 8 and finally Laura who was married to Simon for nearly two years and was 5 months pregnant with their first child. Olivia could see first off how Alex would feel pressured into settling down, with all her siblings already doing so. Her family were great though, it was the kind of family Olivia would have loved growing up. She was accepted into their family with open arms and they had nothing but good things to say about her.

Olivia had been playing games with the kids in the garden for well over an hour when Alex was caught watching them through the kitchen window. She had been in the kitchen with her mum and sisters catching up and they were prying information about Olivia and their relationship out of her. Julia and her mum broke her out of her thoughts by standing next to her and looking out of the window with Alex too

"She's great with them, the kids aren't usually so trusting" Julia voiced her opinion and Alex could do nothing but agree.

"Yeah she is, she sees so much bad in her job it's nice to see her here and relaxing with the kids"

"What is it she does again?" Julia had heard a bit about Olivia from Emily but only that she's worked with the police and made Alex happy.

"She's a detective with the Special Victims Unit"

"So is it serious between you two? I mean you did bring her home which is the first in a long long time, but you seem happy, relaxed. Will we be seeing wedding bells in the future?" Her sister joked and nudged her side whilst her mum and Laura laughed at Alex's sudden blush and shocked look.

"Er, hmm well you know, er we er- we haven't really talked about it" Alex was at a loss and was not enjoying her family laughing at her when Olivia waltzed through the door with three of the kids in tow. She took a glass from the counter and helped herself to some juice already set out on the table before going over to Alex and kissing her cheek. Olivia took one look at Alex's flustered cheeks and asked what was wrong. Julia cut in and repeated the question to Olivia who after the initial shock used her detective skills to school her features plastered on a small grin whilst pulling Alex to her and replied

"Well it isn't something we've really talked about. I mean I'd love to marry Alex and have mini Alex's running around but you know we're both busy at the moment, with work and that. I mean we haven't even moved in together yet so we'll just see how it goes"

Her mum seemed extremely pleased with the answer and smiled to Alex's siblings before heading off to start on lunch. Everyone slowly left the room to check on the rest of the children and Olivia turned to Alex kissed her again on the cheek and left saying she was going to offer her mum a hand to cook. Alex continued staring at the spot which Olivia had just left, still dumbstruck.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The days flew by in the Cabot household. It was now Tuesday and after a hectic and fun filled weekend, the house had quietened down a bit and everyone was just as happy so sit and watch tv in each other's company as they were to go out and have fun. Alex had yet to talk to Olivia regarding her little speech to her mum over the weekend but Olivia was fast becoming new favourite family member with both kids and adults alike, they were all fighting for some Olivia time. She had charmed them with her personality and made them laugh with tales from her job and team.

Behind the closed doors of the bedroom things between them weren't awkward per say but they weren't as relaxed as when they were when they were with the family, which was somewhat confusing. Alex had woken up a few minutes before and Olivia's side of the bed was empty. Not hearing anything from the bathroom she assumed Olivia had gone downstairs to help with the breakfast preparations. Alex gathered her stuff and made her way to the bathroom to shower. Without a second thought she pushed open the bathroom door and stopped in her tracks. Olivia, her Olivia, had her back to Alex and hadn't noticed Alex walk in. She had a small towel over her shoulder to stop her hair dripping on the rest of her and was leant forward, one foot on the tub drying her calf, the rest of her...naked.

Alex couldn't breathe. Olivia was stunning. Alex had never seen anyone else more beautiful. Olivia's skin tone was olive, with toned muscles covering the expanse of her body. Her shoulders were toned but feminine, she could see the muscles in her back flex as Olivia continued to dry herself off. Alex's eyes moved lower until she stopped just above the curve of Olivia's backside. That perfectly round, perfectly muscled backside, which she just had to touch. Forgetting everything else but Olivia's backside, Alex stepped forward and wit her right hand reached out and cupped it. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move her hand away. She just stood there. Then she heard something, was it coming from this room?

"Alex!" the foggy haze surrounding was clearing and she could hear Olivia saying her name. Then she blinked and took in the situation. She was standing behind a very tensed up, but very naked Olivia Benson, with her right hand cupping her backside. Her hand. Olivia's backside. Olivia was naked.

"Oh God!" and with that she turned around and fled into the master bedroom.

...

Olivia had been in the shower after a sleepless night. She didn't realise her little speech on the weekend would cause an uncomfortable atmosphere behind closed doors. She just wanted to be able to hold Alex at night but clearly her little speech had made that near impossible. As she stepped out the shower she was thinking of ways in which to show Alex that her feelings weren't just pretend. Not even she was that good an actress. She was drying herself off at a leisurely pace still thinking things over when she thought she heard a slight movement behind her. Trying not to be obvious that she heard Alex come into the bathroom she just carried on drying herself, taking a little more time, and putting a little extra movement in.

She was about ready to give in and just turn around when she felt it. A hand. Alex's hand was touching her butt. No forget that, she wasn't touching it she was cupping it. She tensed naturally, unsure of what was going on. Was this it? Was Alex finally going to make a move? When a few seconds which felt like an eternity had passed and Alex had yet to move or do anything that remotely resembled moving Olivia called her name.

Alex didn't respond so she repeated it again but louder. Alex must have heard because she suddenly dropped her hand turned and ran out of the bathroom, muttering an 'oh god' as she went. Olivia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Alex had been touching her, so clearly she liked what she saw. This made Olivia happy but she didn't understand why Alex had left.

Olivia pulled on her swimsuit then a summer dress ready for the relaxing day at the beach with the Cabot's and took in a deep breath before entering the main room to talk to Alex. She wasn't surprised when she looked around and noticed Alex and both their beach bags were gone. She assumed Alex wasn't ready for a confrontation yet but she clearly wasn't mad at herself if she kindly took Olivia's bag for her too. Deciding today would be the day she told Alex her true feelings she gathered up her sunglasses, slipped on her sandals and made her way downstairs so they could set off to the beach.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The family could sense that something was wrong between Alex and Olivia when they were in the car but didn't want to ask. They hoped it was nothing serious and that they would be able to enjoy the day at the beach with the family. Once they had all arrived they went to an area of the beach which already had sun loungers and parasols on. At Olivia's raised eyebrow Alex explained that Michael and James came down earlier with the loungers in the car and set everything up ready. Not wanting to draw the family's attention to them they picked a sun lounger next to each other and made small talk before Alex would randomly start blushing and go quiet and turn away. Olivia didn't want the day to be ruined so she took a deep breath and tapped Alex on the shoulder to get her attention

"Hey, look- I-I don't want any awkwardness between us, I'm sorry about this morning" before Olivia had a chance to continue Alex cut her off

"What the hell have you got to be sorry for? I was the one who- who touched you inappropriately. I'm so sorry Liv, I dunno what came over me. If it made you uncomfortable you can leave, really, I'll tell my family you have to work. I shouldn't have asked this of you and I won't ever be able to apologies"

"Alex stop, I'm not angry or upset. And the only reason I'm uncomfortable is because you are2

"Liv, you should be, you came up here to help me out and I repay you by ogling you while you change and it's hard Liv"

"What's hard Alex? You know you can talk to me about anything right?"

"You being here is hard" at the look of defeat in Olivia's face she quickly continued before Olivia got the wrong idea "I didn't mean it like that, it's just-my family really like you Liv, and It's been amazing here, and the longer we're here the harder it's getting to tell them the truth. How do I tell them we're not going out and it was a lie, and most of all you're straight?"

"Hold up, what? Alex, where on earth did you get the idea I was straight?" at Olivia's smirking face Alex couldn't concentrate,

"Huh!"

"I'm not straight Alex. I thought you knew? The guys all knew. We thought you were the straight one. Well we had our suspicions it wasn't until your mum started ringing me that I knew. But I didn't tell the guys, I didn't know if you were hiding it. We know you went out with Langan on a date"

"That was a work date, really. He was just trying to impress me, which he didn't by the way. So everyone thinks I'm straight? And I'm not. And you're not straight either?"

"Nope, I'm as gay as they come. And I really like you Alex. Why else would I talk to your mum on the phone for so long? I thought you knew and we'd eventually be able to talk about this"

"I-I honestly, I mean I-Liv I just don't know what to say" after sitting there looking at Liv for a few minutes Alex began to grin which then turned out into a full grown smile that reached her eyes. "How about you put some of this sun cream on my back Detective?" Olivia grinned right back and sat behind Alex on her lounger. She squirted a large amount of sun cream into her palm and seductively started covering Alex's back. She would occasionally kiss the base of Alex's neck, but they kept it pg with the family and kids around. The family looked on at the new couple, smiling that they'd sorted out whatever was bothering them earlier today.

"Livia, Livia come and play with us" Little Lexi was running towards the loungers with the twins Mathew and John and little Tomos. She stopped next to Olivia's sun lounger which she had been lying face down on and climbed up onto Olivia's back.

"Lexi get down off of Olivia" Lexi's mum shouted across the sitting area, but couldn't hold back her grin at the love the children had for Olivia. Olivia who was trying to hide her laugh shouted it was ok back before rolling onto her back without tipping Lexi off her. Smiling at the mini Alex, Liv tickled her sides and then stood up and carrying Lexi in a firemans lift over her shoulders.

"You wanna play huh?" everyone was laughing at the scene in front of them. Olivia took off into a slow jog toward the water with Lexi, who was squeeling in both delight and pretend fear as she saw that they were walking towards the water. The twins and Tomos followed at a quick childs run, wanting to join in the fun. The twins mum decided to go down with them stating it was unfair of Olivia to keep an eye on the four youngest in the water alone and took off down the beach.

Alex sat up on her lounger grinning from ear to ear at Olivia pretending to dump her niece in the water and couldn't help but think how great Olivia would be as a mum. Her sister came over and sat next to her, being five months pregnant she didn't want to be out in the sun a lot so sat on the lounger with Alex so the parasol would give a decent amount of cover.

"She's great with them" Laura was looking down the beach at Olivia, her sister in law and the youngest of the kids.

"Yeah she is, she really is. She see's so much bad in her job, I love seeing her like this, so carefree" Alex had a faraway look on her face whilst looking down the beach. She shook herself out of it and faced her sister.

"This is serious between you two?" it was more of a statement from Laura but she waited for Alex to reply.

"I-we haven't talked much about the far future. It didn't really come up until the weekend just gone when you were talking in the kitchen"

"You can tell she loves you, you know" At this Alex blushed. Not even her slightly pink skin after the sun could hide the blush.

"And I, I'm pretty sure I love her too" Laura beamed, squeeled then hugged her younger sister. She was happy Alex had found someone she could love and loved her back. "So what was wrong with you both this morning?" Laura was determined to know the details, her sister was such a private person even though the family were close. Alex would talk about everything but her love life.

"That was a misunderstanding, it's ok now"

"Oh we know it is, I thought she was gonna make love to you there on the lounger when she was rubbing sun cram into you" There was no hiding the darker blush that went from her face and down her chest. Laura was giggling and Alex was starting to feel a tingling spreading from her stomach downwards. She coughed to stop herself from thinking what Liv's hand were doing to her earlier and probably wouldn't have stopped her if they were alone. Any other conversation was halted when Olivia came back up and dropped her dripping bikini glad figure onto the lounger next to Alex. Alex couldn't look away. It was more stunning than this morning. Although she was naked this morning, Alex only saw her from behind. But here Olivia was, sea water still cascading off her body. Her hair was sleeked back and she couldn't help but lower her gaze from her face to her chest were droplets of water were travelling down and dripping into Olivia's bikini top. Laura noted the heated gaze between her sister and Liv and quietly got up and waddled back over to the rest of the family.

The kids were all down by the water with most of the adults apart from Laura and Emily who were preparing the meat and snacks for the bbq. Alex got up from her lounger and dropped herself onto Olivia's so she was half on Olivia and half squeezed into the remaining space on the side. She leaned herself up as much as she could and stared into Olivia's eyes. Neither women moved for a few minutes. The heated tension was rising and by mutual agreement, they both leaned in for their first proper kiss. Alex couldn't hold back the moan when she felt Olivia's lips on hers. It was everything and more than she ever thought it would be. The kiss was slow and sensual, filled with passion. Olivia had both hands holding Alex's face to hers, where as Alex was leaning on one arm, and slowly moving her other along the planes of Olivia's body. They were unaware of anything else around them, so absorbed in each other. A cough brought them out of their passion filled kiss, and Alex had the decency to blush some more when she realised it was her mum who coughed. Embarrassed at having being caught up her mum laughed and said that the children were coming back up for dinner so they might want to keep it pg. Olivia and Alex broke apart and smiled at each other before putting on their sundresses and heading to help her mum with the bbq.


	6. Chapter 6

****Sorry for the delay in updating, but here are the next three chapters, I hope you like****

Chapter 6

The rest on the day went in a relaxing bliss. Everyone was relaxed, stuffed to the max after the bbq and happily enjoying each other's company. It was early evening when they decided to head back as the youngest kids were practically sleeping in the laps of their parents. Alex and Olivia had been stealing glances at each other all day after their lust filled moment this morning. Although they wanted a repeat, they went no further than cuddling whilst on the lounger, keeping in mind that the kids were always up and down the beach begging Olivia to dump them in the sea.

Alex had joined them on a few occasions but begged off when her pale skin was beginning to burn. She was continuously admiring Olivia's ability to tan nicely because of her olive complexion. Alex had been feeling euphoric all day. Her and Olivia. Olivia and her. So many thoughts were running around her head, where they together now_? Did the kiss mean as much to Olivia as it did her_? They had yet to talk about it but from the looks she'd been receiving from Olivia all day she couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat.

Once everyone was loaded into the numerous cars, they set off back to the estate. Olivia had been driving one car with Alex in the passenger and the twins in the back. They both knew a serious talk was in order when they got back but for now Olivia was more than happy to be able to reach across and link her fingers with Alex's whilst driving. The smile she got off Alex after the hand holding had more than set her at ease. Tonight was the night. She was determined that they would finally reveal their feelings for each other and make this charade a reality. Before they knew it they were at the estate and the kids and beach equipment was unloaded from the car. They bid goodnight to the family and made their way up to Alex's room.

The second the door was closed Olivia pulled Alex to her and began kissing her bottom lip. The kiss became passion filled, they were putting everything they had into it and it was still slow and sensual. Olivia's hands remained by Alex's head, running her thumbs smoothly over Alex's cheeks whilst holding her in place. A few more minutes and a lack of air caused the women to separate.

"Wow" was about the only word Alex could form.

"Yeah, wow!" Olivia took Alex's hand and walked her over to the bed where they both sat up against the headboard, side by side, holding hands. After a few seconds of silence Olivia decided to bite the bullet, coincidently the same time as Alex was about to speak, they both giggled before Olivia asked to speak first. After waiting for a nod of approval from Alex she took a deep breath and began talking.

"I don't want you to think that this is all pretend to me. I have had feelings for you since the moment we met, honestly ask El, he's been teasing me about it ever since. When your mum started calling, I know I should have told you but I thought, well more hoping that you told her my name because you felt something for me too? And for months I've been trying to think of ways to tell you and I kept chickening out. I can't remember the last time I felt this way about anyone, honestly, and I want to see where this goes, but not at the cost of our friendship, you mean so much to me Alex, and I won't lose that for anything"

The room was quiet for a few minutes, Olivia couldn't tell what was going on in Alex's head, she was keeping her face neutral. She was about to get up and leave Alex to think but she felt Alex's hand squeeze hers. Looking up at Alex's face she saw the most amazing smile she'd ever seen and a few tears were making their way down Alex's face. Olivia leaned forward and swiped them away with her thumb. Alex started talking.

"My turn, when I said your name in the phone call, you were nothing more than a fantasy. I thought you were straight. I cared for you, a lot. I never imagined that we would be anything more than friends, not because I didn't want it, but because of circumstances. When I knew you'd been talking to my mum, I was a little angry, not that you'd been playing along, but that you'd already had this made up relationship about us and I didn't feel part of it. I was jealous that you had something that about us that wasn't even real. Sounds stupid I know. When you agreed to come here, god my heart wouldn't calm down for hours. My stomach was doing summersaults, but I still couldn't let myself believe anything would come of us. This morning, god I want to apologise so much but I can't seem to find the words to do so, and it would be a lie. When I saw you in that bathroom, I forgot about everything, my senses went out the window. And I can't believe someone as gorgeous, amazing and kind as you would want me." Olivia was about to interrupt but Alex shook her head and carried on. "But knowing that you want it too makes me the happiest I've been in a long time, and like you I don't want to lose our friendship, but at the same time, I can't go back to before we came here. I feel like I already need you"

"Then you have me, we'll take things slow. We'll go at a pace we're comfortable.."

"That's this things though, I don't want to take is slow, I want to make love to you here, now and forever. I want to hold you tonight and tomorrow night and any night I can" At her statement Olivia beamed at Alex. The conversation went on for hours, mixed with hugging and kissing. It was getting really late so they decided to get ready for bed. Olivia explained that although she really wanted Alex tonight and every other night she didn't want their first time to be restrained in her parent's house, so they settled on just holding each other.

"I know I said no sex whilst we're here, but you wanna join me in the shower? Just a shower, nothing else, I just want to feel your skin on mine" Alex nodded and they made their way to the en-suite were they undressed each other and climbed into the shower.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

It had been two nights since their talk and every morning since they had woken up wrapped in each other's arms. True to their word they hadn't gone much further than kissing but they continuously touched and teased each other throughout the night. The family could see the tension between the two women was gone, and they couldn't be happier that things were back on track, something was different between the two of them, they seemed even more happier, so the family were most certainly not complaining.

Thursday was a little cloudy, so by dinner time everyone was spread out across the house doing their own thing. The kids were mainly in the play room set up for them, they guys were playing cards and watching tv so the women sat in the kitchen, generally catching up. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying being in when the door bell rang. One of the men answered the door and friendly greetings could be heard in the kitchen. Friends of the family from the town had arrived and after a few hello's in the hallway the visiting group split up I the same way, kids to the playroom, men to the card games and the women made their way into the kitchen.

Three women walked into the kitchen and there were smiles all round. Everyone was standing up and happily greeting each other. When the greetings had finished and everyone was sat again Emily introduced Olivia to the three new arrivals.

"Olivia dear, these are the Wilson's, old friends of the family they live a few streets away." Emily began pointing to the three of the women, starting with the eldest "This here is Martha, been my friend since before I married Alex's dad, and those beautiful young women next to her are her daughter Jessie and her daughter in law Laura" Martha introduced the three women to Olivia and told them that Olivia was Alex's girlfriend. Introductions were made and conversation flowed once more. No one apart from Olivia noticed the tight smile Jessie had looking over at her, or the slightly tensed form of Alex sitting next to her. For some reason unknown to her, Olivia's stomach dropped.

Throughout the day Olivia had tried to ask Alex what was wrong and each time she merely brushed it off as nothing and gave a fake smile. The Wilson's were staying for dinner that evening so after Olivia had met the men in the other room and more talking about old family outings they had as a group were over, Emily, Martha and Emily's daughter's minus Alex set off to the kitchen to begin cooking dinner and indulge in a few glasses of wine.

Alex's Sister Laura was walking next to Olivia and noticed she seemed uncomfortable and she could guess why.

"Hey Liv, you ok?"

"Er, yeah sure I'm fine. I just, you know what it's nothing" Olivia tried her best to smile but Laura saw right through her so spoke up again.

"They used to date years ago" whilst she was talking to Olivia, she was looking over at her younger sister and Jessie, who after a few awkward hours had thawed out any tension between the two and were now laughing about a private conversation. "I wouldn't worry about it, Alex clearly loves you, and Jessie, well their break up was mutual, I think they just fell out of love. Seriously though, you and Alex, I've not seen Alex this happy before". Olivia nodded her head and smiled a little. It didn't quite reach her eyes but she was sure she pulled it off. She couldn't help but wonder why Alex hadn't mentioned anything throughout the day about Jessie.

Alex and Jessie didn't join the women with the food preparation but Olivia seemed to relax a little when hearing Martha discuss Jessie's new partner who seemed just lovely. She had even managed to relax and laugh at stories of old family vacations the families had together. In the conservatory Alex was deep in conversation with Jessie.

"So, Olivia seems really nice" Jessie took a sip of her wine and waited for Alex to respond. Alex had felt a little guilty about neglecting Olivia today, it was clear Olivia had been making an effort with her and Jessie and Alex felt guilty for brushing her off, and she didn't know why she was doing it to begin with. When she saw Jessie walk into the kitchen this morning she couldn't help but remember their relationship years ago, and knew she still harboured feelings for her ex lover.

"Yeah, she really is, she's an amazing woman"

"So how long have you been together?" Alex knew that Jessie could tell when she was lying but stuck to the story that they'd been dating for quite a few months.

"Really? Because I was having lunch with a mutual friend in the city about two months ago and she was adamant you were still single" Alex blushed but explained that they had been keeping it quiet because of their jobs. Jessie let the subject drop. They were talking about the fun times they had years ago, and about their little romantic getaways. It was clear they were both getting slightly light headed from the wine, but continued to drink it anyway. Alex was starting to feel like she should go and see Olivia, guilt starting to cloud her mind but she just couldn't get up and do it. Jessie had moved to sit right next to her during their earlier conversation and Alex's foggy mind could smell her old perfume, and was so confused. Jessie kept on bringing up their love life and how amazing the sex they had was and Alex was caught up in the moment. She didn't know how it happened but Jessie's lips were on hers and she wasn't pushing her away. She felt Jessie's tongue move along her lip and willingly opened her mouth to grant her access. Her mind was so absorbed in the kiss, old feelings brought back.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A glass smashing snapped her out of the kiss. She was just staring at Jessie who was looking back at her with a passion filled face. They were both breathing heavily. Alex's hand was still in Jessie's hair. She remembered the glass smash and looked towards the doorway, Olivia stood, unmoving. Two glasses of wine were smashed on the floor clearly she was coming to give the ladies more drink. Olivia couldn't breathe, her chest hurt, her eyes filled with tears and no one was moving. Laura, Alex's sister had joined her at the door when she heard the glass smash and could easily tell what had been going on. Her sister's hand was still in Jessie's hair, no one was moving. Laura touched Olivia's arm in support, which in turn snapped Olivia out of her shock. Olivia turned and walked away quickly, making her way upstairs. Laura was staring at Alex, willing her to say something. Do something. She just sat there in shock. She dropped her hands from Jessie's hair, only just realising what she had been doing. Laura turned and walked away, clearly disgusted with the both of them. She never disliked Jessie, they got along ok, but she really liked Olivia, and she couldn't believe what Alex had done to her.

"Oh god, what, Oh god, I can't believe.." Alex couldn't form a proper sentence, she was wrapped up in her own thoughts, thinking over what she had done, what Olivia had just walked in on. She couldn't move.

"Maybe it was meant to be, I still love you Alex" Jessie's words caused Alex's head to whip round and face her. Jessie loved her. The kiss was like what it had been all those years ago. But all the thoughts were rushing at her at once, how much she loved her, but then the fighting, the viciousness, the spiteful words. Her and Jessie never worked. They weren't in love anymore. She knew she was in falling in love with Olivia, she knew that.

"No, we don't work Jess, we row and we fight. I loved you, years ago. I probably loved you up until a year ago. But I stopped. I love Olivia. I'm in love with Olivia, god what have I done?"

Jess was clearly hurt but nodded anyway. Tears were streaming from both their eyes. She loved Alex, she wanted her back, but she didn't want to hurt her any further.

"Maybe you should go after her" It wasn't until Jessie had said that that Alex realised it had been nearly ten minutes since Olivia had walked in on them. She was still in shock but got up, she made her way out of the conservatory and through the kitchen where everyone had gathered around, clearly aware of what had gone on. She looked up at her family. Her mum and dad looked ashamed. She was at a loss. No one said anything to her. No one knew what to say. She looked around, knowing Olivia wouldn't be waiting in the kitchen but looked anyway.

"She's gone" Alex's head snapped back to Laura. Her sister looked angry at her. Her tone was spiteful.

"She packed up her stuff and left, and you didn't even bother to get up and go after her. How could you do that to her?" Her voice was getting louder and everyone began to move out of the kitchen.

"God Alex, you finally meet someone who treats you right, worships the ground you walk on, loves you, and you do that to her, here where everyone could see. Have you that little respect for her?"

"I, I" Alex was stuttering, she couldn't think. _Olivia's gone? Where had she gone? _She made her way out of the kitchen quickly and picked up her pace to a run, making her way to the bedroom she'd been sharing with Olivia. She burst through the door. No Olivia. Olivia's bag was gone. The drawers with her clothes empty. Olivia's car keys were gone off the bedside table but she still walked to the window hoping to see Olivia's car in the driveway. Nothing there. Alex dropped back onto the bed. Her sister and her mum walked slowly into the room. They were so angry and upset at her. But they couldn't bring themselves to have another go at her when they noticed the distraught look on her face.

"She, she's gone" Alex spoke quietly.

"Yeah Alex, she left, she came to say goodbye to the family and said she had to leave. She was broken Alex." It was the first thing Emily had said to her since she's walked through the door of the conservatory.

"But, but I, I love her, I'm in love with her" The past week was floating around in her mind. Olivia's touches her kisses and her hugs. Olivia's smile, her laugh. The night time talks they had, the shower they shared. Her chest was tightening. She was in love with Olivia, and Olivia was gone. She'd cheated on Olivia. She couldn't grasp what she'd done. Her breaths were coming in short and quick, she couldn't bring enough oxygen into her body.

"Breathe Alex, you're going to have a panic attack" Both her mum and sister sat on either side of the bed, rubbing small circles on her back, trying to calm her down. They'd never seen her this broken. Alex's shoulders shook, and tears wouldn't stop. She cried. She wasn't aware of her surroundings anymore, she just kept crying. She must have cried herself to sleep because when she woke her sister was lying on one side and little Lexi was on the other. Her eyes hurt, her throat hurt. Olivia was gone.

Friday day was here, Alex hadn't said a word since last night. She got up, showered, changed. Even when Lexi had tried to make her smile she couldn't, she felt empty. She'd tried calling Olivia all morning, the first few times it rang. Then it went straight to voicemail. She left at least a dozen voicemails hoping Olivia would call her back, hear her out. Not that she knew what to say. She didn't know where to begin. Jessie was, she couldn't explain it. Jessie, the wine, she felt like she was back in the past. It wasn't until she told Jessie she loved Olivia did she realise what she'd done. She needed to see Olivia. She needed to explain that it meant nothing. Olivia was the one she loved, the one she wanted. She couldn't lose that. She packed up her stuff and got her dad to drop her off at the station.

"Do you love her Lex?" her dad had parked up and was taking in the appearance of his youngest daughter. She seemed to have aged over night. He didn't ask too many questions over what had happened. Alex was a grown up, he loved her but she needed to sort this out herself.

"More than anything dad" Alex cried whilst replying, she couldn't hold back the tears, because it was true, and her heart was breaking at the thought of not being able to touch and kiss and hold Olivia again.

"Then you do whatever it is to get her back, beg her, show her you love her more than anything, and shout it to the world if you have to. Don't let her get away, I like this one" He laughed saying that, it was true he did really like Olivia the whole family did. It had been hard for Alex to explain to little Lexi why her 'favourite aunt Livia had left suddenly.

"What if she won't take me back? What if she doesn't love me anymore?"

"I highly doubt that Lex, it was clear the moment we met her she loved you. But it's going to take a lot to gain back her trust. You may have to accept that she won't take you back. Trust seems to mean a lot to her" Alex knew it did. Trust was everything to Olivia, but she had to try. She climbed out of the car, took out her back and made her way into the station to catch a train back to the city. The long journey would allow her to plan her next course of action.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The drive home felt never ending for Olivia. Her thoughts were jumbled up. How could she be so heart broken when they'd only been together for such a short amount of time? She couldn't help but feel she was to blame for the way she was feeling. Olivia never really trusted people and she found it hard to open up to people. The only person she's ever felt close to in her life was Elliot. And now she'd finally let someone else in, too quickly and they betrayed her.

Olivia was so consumed in her thoughts she didn't realise she was already near the city. The hours driving had flown by and she felt no better. It was already extremely late but she couldn't make herself go home. She took the next exit and headed to Elliot's house. Hoping Elliot or Kathy would be still awake.

The knock on the door snapped both Kathy and Elliot out of their slumber. They were still downstairs, having fallen asleep whilst watching a film. Curious as to who would be knocking on the door at this hour, Elliot wearily made his way to the door. Upon opening the door he was shocked to see his partner and best friend, looking completely and utterly heartbroken. Without a seconds thought he took her in his arms and led the way to the sitting room where Kathy was now awake and waiting to see who was here.

Kathy and Olivia had grown close over the years, she was extremely wary of Olivia for a while. She was convinced Olivia was after Elliot, and that Elliot returned her feelings. Then one day when they were both out on the porch having a drink and the kids were all away for the night she confronted them both. After accusing them both of having an affair the pair looked at each other, then at Kathy and outright laughed in her face. It was then they told Kathy that Olivia was in fact gay, and that she was in no way attracted to Elliot. From that day on Kathy learnt to accept Olivia into the family, and as well as a close relationship Olivia has with their children, her and Kathy formed an extremely close friendship.

"Oh my god Olivia what's wrong?" Kathy was the first to ask her close friend the question as she pulled Olivia to sit next to her on the couch. Through the mumbles of Olivia's voice they got the jest of things before Olivia finally broke down and allowed Kathy to hug her whilst Elliot went to get some drinks and some extra blankets. There was no way they were letting Olivia leave tonight.

The following day Olivia thanked the both Elliot and Kathy, refusing their offers to stay longer and spend some time with the kids when they got back. She drove home and unpacked her stuff. She had more than a few missed calls of Alex, so diverted any future calls from her to voicemail. After showering and eating Olivia picked up her phone which she'd turned on vibrate and noticed she had more than a few voicemails. Not wanting to listen to them knowing they'd probably all be off Alex she put her phone back down on her coffee table. An hour later and she couldn't wait any longer she picked up her phone, placed it on loud speaker and listened to her messages.

"Liv...please, I, I need to, just please can you answer the phone" Olivia could hear the pain in Alex's voice, but she was in no way compelled to ring her back. The following messages were pretty much the same up to the last one where it was just mumbled words from Alex broken up by the sounds of her sobs. Hearing Alex hurting nearly tore at her heart. But then her heart was already broken and Olivia knew the only way to let it heal was to cut some ties. She wouldn't let herself be hurt again.

The train journey home was long, allowing Alex to think over the last week and manly the last week and mainly the last 36 hours. She had been on the train for 5 hours, and all she could think about was how hurt Olivia looked when she saw her with Jessie. She still couldn't understand why she let it happen. A few glasses of wine was not an excuse. She wasn't so drunk that she couldn't comprehend what was going on. She'd spoken to Jessie this afternoon before she left. She'd told her that she had no feeling for her anymore, and that the kiss was just that. A kiss. A reminder of what they had but not of what were to come. A blast from the past that she momentarily got caught up in. Now all she had to do was try and explain to Olivia that it meant nothing, and if anything made her realise how much she was already in love with her. It wasn't going to be easy.

After getting off the train and still not hearing from Olivia, Alex took a cab to Olivia's apartment building. She made her way upstairs; the apartments elevator currently out of order. She struggled with her bags and considered leaving them downstairs in the lobby but there was no doorman in this apartment building. When she made her way to Olivia's door she could hear moving around from inside and knew Olivia was in.

"Liv open up please, we, I need to talk to you, please let me in" From the other side of the door Olivia looked towards the front door from her kitchen, slightly surprised Alex would show up here so soon. But she had no intention of speaking to her now. She heard Alex knock quite a few more times before someone came out from another apartment and told her a baby was sleeping and she was making too much noise. Realising she wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon she sighed heavily and turned around and made her way to the stairwell again, but not before slipping something under Olivia's door.

Olivia could hear her neighbour complain to Alex, and heard Alex apologise. She could hear something slide under her door before Alex turned around and left. Waiting a good five minutes to make sure Alex was indeed gone, Olivia made her way to the front door. Bending down she saw that the paper was indeed a picture. It was taken at the beach and was of herself, Alex and little Lexi, sitting near the bbq stuffing their faces with a hotdog and laughing. The picture brought a tear to Olivia's eye, and she couldn't help but chuckle a little when she remembered the moment. She walked to her couch and dropped down and put the picture face down next to her. She was about to pick up her probably now cold tea when she noticed writing on the back of the picture.

_I fell in love with you this day, please let me explain, I love you and need you, Alex x _


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Monday morning came around all too quickly for Olivia. She was looking forward to getting stuck back into things, focusing on work, helping the victims, but she really didn't want to see Alex. She'd left the house early, stopped to get everyone a hot drink and made her way into the precinct early to catch up on any paper work or cases they had going on. She was sat at her desk, head down and working when Elliot came walking in 15 minutes after she'd got there.

"Hey, you're here early?"

"Yeah thought I'd come in and catch up on what's going on, get back into things, I got everyone drinks, but then realised what time I'd got here at, they're probably cold now..Sorry."

"Hey no sweat, cold coffee is better than no coffee. So...you sure you want to come back in today? I mean..."

"Oh come on El, I can't avoid her forever, I'm not going to not come into work, my job's all I have."

"Don't be silly, you have all of us."

"You know what I mean." At Elliot's nod in agreement the partners sat down at their respective desks whilst Elliot caught Olivia up on the goings on in 1-6 over the past week. Luckily for Olivia, there were no major new cases but a few pieces of evidence and statements from the cases the previous week so she didn't really have much to do. One by one the rest of the SVU squad made their way through the doors and greeted Olivia happily at her return. After jokingly telling her how much of a bear Elliot had been in her absence, the guys carried on with their own things.

Alex had been both looking forward and anxious for Monday to arrive. She was hoping she'd be able to see Olivia at some point. She didn't want to bring her private life into work but knew it was the only time Olivia would have to talk to her, even if it was about a case. Before she left her apartment she'd arranged for a top end florist to deliver a gorgeous and expensive bouquet of flowers to Olivia at the 1-6 precinct. She made her way to her office and caught up with the previous week's events and cases, slightly disappointed that she had no reason to go down to the squad room first thing.

It was 10 o'clock when don opened his office door and told Elliot and Olivia they'd caught a case. The pair took the slip with the information and left the precinct as soon as. The car ride over was a silent ride, although not uncomfortable. After arriving at the hospital and going to the main reception they were directed to a room where the newest victim had been placed and entered.

A young woman no older than 20 had been mugged, beaten and raped whilst out on her morning run. She gave her story of events and when asked if she knew her attacker or got a good description of him, she flinched and looked away, saying she didn't want to answer any more questions. The detectives knew not to push her so got up and left but not before telling her they'd be in touch and she could easily contact them if she remembered anything else.

Upon their return to the precinct Olivia walked up to her desk slowly after spotting an extravagant vase, filled with beautiful flowers all exceptionally arranged with ribbon wrapped securely around the vase. The vase itself was a light blue which was a beautiful contrast to the whites, pinks and pale yellows of the flower, it appeared hand crafted and had a simple yet elegant twisted design to it. The vase itself was probably worth twice as much as the flowers. They were beautiful.

She looked up to see the squad looking over, waiting for her to read the card or offer more information regarding the sender of such beautiful flowers.

"Come on Liv, who's the rich person that forked out for those flowers for you, we want details." Fin was making his way over to Olivia, and was just about to reach for the card when she snatched it herself and slipped it into her jeans pocket.

"That's none of your business, but they're just a no one" Olivia looked down when saying this hoping no one would see the hurt in her eyes. She picked up the vase not really wanting to throw them but not wanting to keep them either, took out the flowers, then binned them. She emptied the water from the vase into the nearest sink and kept the vase in a small cabinet, bottom drawer, near her desk. Everyone looked at her curiously apart from Elliot but refused to ask why she had done what she'd done.

Alex walked into the precinct before lunch under the pretence of finding out more about the case that Elliot and Olivia had been assigned earlier this morning. When she walked in she immediately looked at Olivia's desk. Not noticing the flowers, she assumed they had yet to be delivered, but walking further into the squad room she could see the flowers in the bin and sighed. Elliot looked up when she walked in, glared in her way then carried on with whatever he was doing on his desk.

Alex took a deep breath and walked over to Olivia's desk, who had yet to acknowledge she was there.

"So any information from this morning's case?" Alex was pleading with Olivia to pick her head up and reply. When Olivia began to do this she felt a little bit of hope bubble within her, half expecting Elliot to answer for her. Olivia looked directly into Alex's eyes and replied coldly;

"Counsellor, no information we could use, woman was attacked, mugged and raped whilst out for a morning run, said no one was around at the time, no witnesses, we suspect she knows at least some information regarding her attacker but refused to give her any. We're keeping in touch but as you know if she won't supply any information there's not much we can do. We're waiting on the results on the rape kit." Olivia's reply was cold and to the point. She looked tired, Alex noticed little bags under her eyes and the guilt came back tenfold.

"Would you like to get some lunch with me?"

"No I'm busy" Olivia kept her head down when replying so Alex tried again.

"But you have to eat at some point, and we need to talk Liv."

"Olivia or Detective it's not Liv to you. We have nothing to talk about. I'll be professional in work, you know I will, but don't expect anything but that. Work is work and I'm not about to give that up because of you. But otherwise, you don't get to talk to me, call me, text me, send me flowers or actually, you just don't get anything. Now is there anything else I can do for you counsellor?"

Olivia looked up at her last question and saw the glistening eyes of Alex. She almost felt guilty for the way she had replied but shook away the guilt, she didn't have to be anything other than professional towards her in work, and that is what she'd be. Alex had a lump in her throat and was barely holding back the tears, which she knew Olivia could see. She knew she couldn't respond without crying so she shook her head 'no' and quickly walked out of the squad room, not making eye contact with anyone on the way out. Elliot looked over to Olivia and nodded his approval he was proud she's managed to say that without cracking and knew how much this was hurting her. Fin and Munch had the decency to not say anything, but it was obvious from Olivia's cold treatment towards the ADA that something was up.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

A week had gone by since Olivia's return to work. They had a hit off the rape kit but the woman refused to testify and the suspect refused to speak so they case was at a standstill. Olivia had been determined to not let this guy go and was digging up anything she could to nail him. The previous week had been hard, but she managed to pull through fine. She'd often be forced into having tea with Elliot, Kathy and the kids. It was the highlight of her week playing with the little ones who she adored so much. Kathy had been a greater friend than usual and they'd spent time together on the weekend going out for lunch and just talking.

**_Saturday (weekend just gone_**_)_

_"So, you heard off Alex over the week?" Kathy never beat about the bush and was never afraid to approach a subject with Olivia. For a small woman she could be quite intimidating, but you'd expect nothing less being married to Elliot for so long, someone had to keep him in line._

_"Hmm, no not really." Olivia kept the answer short, not really wanting to talk about herself and Alex whilst out enjoying lunch. She knew Kathy wouldn't drop the subject though._

_"Not really?" yeah, Kathy was anything but subtle._

_"She sent me flowers Monday which I binned. She invited me out for lunch too but I told her no. She rang a few times during the week but I've not heard from her since Thursday so maybe's she finally getting that I don't want anything to do with her."_

_"And that's what you want?" Kathy took a sip of her coffee but kept her eyes on Olivia, waiting for her friend to respond. Olivia sighed before continuing._

_"It's just the way it is. Before the last few weeks, yeah we were friends, good friends even though I wanted more. I was ok with us being friends. But now, after what happened, I don't think I can forgive her and what hurts just as much is that I've lost a friend. I mean it's not like we were together long..."_

_ "No, you weren't, but you'd both been dancing around each other so long, I'm sure everyone suspected there was something going on, even if they didn't think that, they knew you both cared deeply for each other."_

_"Oh god really? Were we that obvious?" Olivia looked slightly mortified that people knew more about her private life than she was willing to share. _

_"Yeah really, everyone thought if you weren't already together you would be soon, even if they didn't know you were both gay. Why don't you talk to her?"_

_"Because, I, I'm just not ready to forgive her yet. I don't think I can let her back in."_

_"I'm not saying let her back in Liv, I'm saying talk to her, tell her how you feel. If you know you can't trust her again in that sense, tell her. Or just tell her you'll accept her apology but you'll never be anything more than friends, and even then it will take some time."_

_Olivia sat and listened to Kathy's opinions. She did miss Alex, both romantically and platonically. They had been friends. But the betrayal was still raw. Maybe she should talk to Alex, just to get it all off her chest so she could at least move on. _

The woman switched topics after that, Kathy being satisfied that she'd made her point. Sunday was a quiet affair for Olivia, she went into work for a few hours, just to do some paperwork and get her out of the apartment. She'd had a call on Sunday afternoon from Emily and didn't know what to say so let it go to voicemail. When she listened to it back after, she listened as Emily had told her that she hoped she was doing ok, and that they in no way condoned Alex's actions. She was sorry about how her week away turned out and she'd hoped Olivia would still be willing to talk to her now and then, she really had come to respect and admire the woman and would miss their talks but would understand if Olivia didn't want to talk with the family any more. Olivia had wiped the few tears away from her face after the call and promised herself she'd call Emily on Monday.

So hear she was on Monday, back at work after even though she was only just there yesterday she felt like she'd actually had a good weekend off, surprisingly. She was sat at her desk, again going through the previous case. She just couldn't let it drop. When she spoke to the suspect she could tell he was a creep, he'd let slip that he used to date the victim but that was all. He'd been high all the weekend of the attack and on the Monday morning of the attack so couldn't remember if he saw her, and if he did the sex would have been consensual. Olivia could see right through him. It irritated her to no end.

Alex had avoided the squad room after Monday but had still tried calling Olivia up until Thursday. She was at a loss, Olivia wouldn't let her explain or apologise and she felt deflated. She'd spoken to her mum and sister most days and they didn't know what to tell her. On Sunday she'd spoken to her mum, and her mum had told her about the message she's left with Olivia and Alex broke down, realising the strong bond the family had formed with her in such a short time. Her mum had explained that maybe Olivia needed time, but also said that Alex may have to accept that their relationship may be over. Alex said she couldn't think like that, she wasn't willing to give up yet. They'd said their goodbyes and Alex spent the rest of her Sunday in her sweats, contemplating a possible future without Olivia, even as a friend, it seemed grim.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was Wednesday before Olivia got around to calling Emily. She apologised for not replying sooner and blamed her busy work schedule as the excuse. They'd had a nice conversation with Emily trying not to mention Alex too much. She was secretly hoping Olivia would mention her but she never did. They stuck to neutral topics, Olivia asking how the family were etc Emily had asked for Olivia's address stating there were some pictures of the reunion that she thought Olivia might like. Olivia didn't want to reminders but didn't want to appear rude, gave Emily her address and ended the call not long after saying she had to return to work.

It had been four days since her phone call with Kathy, and Olivia had decided that after time, she at least wanted a friendship with Alex, so packed up her stuff near lunch time and made her way to the ADA's office.

After being told Alex was alone in her office by her assistant, Olivia knocked and waited for the 'come in' on the other side of the door before entering.

Alex was in no mood for visitors, it was near lunch time she wanted to lock herself away in her office for an hour, she'd refused invitation after invitation for lunches from her colleagues already. When she heard the knock, she'd straightened herself up and responded. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Olivia slowly make her way in, pausing for a brief second when shutting the door behind her. It was the first time Olivia had seen her in over a week. She took in Alex's appearance. She looked as business like as usual, but her eyes had no shine to them. She wore a little extra make up, probably attempting to cover up the slight puffy-ness around her eyes. She looked a little thinner on the face too and guilt pooled in Olivia's gut for not having the nerve to have this conversation sooner, for both their sakes.

"Hey." Olivia was the first to speak, she'd still not moved away from the closed door, attempting to find some more last minute courage to do so.

"Li- Detective, take a seat." Alex almost slipped and called her Liv but remembered the painful one sided conversation a week ago Monday and hopefully corrected her error without Olivia picking up on her mistake. Olivia noticed the slip, but didn't mention it. She felt a little bad but hopefully after today's talk they could forget the reunion and everything that happened and get a friendship back on track, or at least start a new one.

"What can I do for you? I haven't had a call, do you need a warrant?" Alex was hoping this visit was a bit more personal but would take any time with Olivia she could get.

"Erm, no, we don't need anything, this wasn't really work related, I'm sorry, I should have called first." Olivia got up ready to leave when Alex stood too, calling her back.

"No, Please don't go. Please. Just, sit back down, please? I'm glad you came. I know we have a lot to talk about."

"Before you talk, I'd like to say a few things first, please?" Olivia looked at Alex waiting for approval before she continued. It was obvious Alex wanted to talk first, but after a couple of seconds decided that it was better that Olivia was actually talking so nodded for Olivia to continue.

"What happened at your parents was hurtful Alex, more than I'd thought it could be after only a short time together. I had feelings for you for a long time and *sighs* and when I had the opportunity to maybe work something out between us I jumped at it. Your family are amazing and my time there was amazing. I thought we had something really good. When I saw what I saw, I realised that maybe I'd invested too much too quickly. We knew each other well, but there was a personal level of each other we didn't know. I don't think at the time I reacted irrationally, but I should have been able to talk to you sooner and for that I'm sorry. We were great friends before. And even though for now my trust in you is low, it doesn't mean it's completely shattered. I want to be your friend Alex. You still mean something to me; I'd hate to lose our friendship from this."

Alex let Olivia's word sink in, trust not completely gone. They were great friends. The words friends was swimming around her head, and it was like a knife to the gut. Olivia still wanted to be friends, nothing more. She felt her chest tightening a bit. But she could still salvage a friendship from this. She didn't know if she could be just friends with Olivia. Olivia sat watching Alex, more tears pooling in her eyes, not quite falling yet. Alex rarely let her emotions show. Her 'ice queen' persona was always in place, so it was upsetting to see her like this the second time in over a week. She was about to get up and leave her be when Alex began to talk.

"I, I, first off, I know you probably don't want to hear this but can I at least explain? So I can get it off my chest?" She looked at Olivia, waiting for the go ahead, the slight nod from Olivia was the only indication she gave that she'd sit and listen.

"Jessie and I were a long time ago. I'd dated before her, but she was my first love. Our break up, wasn't as mutual as everyone thought. She hurt me, emotionally. She left and for a long time I felt like I never got to say goodbye or have closure. When, *breathe* when she walked into the house, it was the first time I'd seen her since the break up and everything that I buried came rushing back. I didn't want to speak to her but at the same time I wanted answers. When we started talking, she acted like she did before she hurt me. And the wine, I'm not using it as an excuse, I wasn't drunk. But I was a little buzzed. She knew what to say and how I'd react. I should have got up and walked away but I couldn't. When she moved in to kiss me, I didn't realise until she was already there, kissing me. And my mind was blank. There was nothing. I kissed her back and it was like the old times, but without the love. When you walked in, I, I broke inside. I'm going to be honest and say I wouldn't have let it go any further, I promise you, I wouldn't have. Regardless of what it looked like. When you walked away, I sat there and I felt empty. I knew I had my closure. There were no romantic feelings for Jessie, only my love for you. I got up to follow, but clearly I didn't realise how long I just sat there because you'd already packed and gone." She paused and looked at Olivia, noticing the pain in her face, and her wiping the tears, she didn't want to hurt her anymore. But Olivia wasn't getting up to leave so she took it as permission to continue.

"I can't ever tell you how sorry I am for hurting you. The week at my parents before that had been one of the best in my life I'm not lying when I say that. I've cared for you for so long and when I had the opportunity to take it further I ruined it, and I'll never forgive myself for that. If you're still willing to be my friend, I'll take what I can get. I'll do whatever it takes for your trust in me to be restored. But please know that I'm always going to want to be more than friends so if at times I'm being distant or quiet, I'll probably just be finding it a little hard. You're an amazing woman Olivia, and falling in love with you was too easy, falling out of love with you, at the moment feels impossible. So a friendship with you would be amazing, but I'm just asking for time to adjust."

They were both crying now, trying unsuccessfully to wipe away their tears and hide their pain. No one knew what to say so they said nothing. Alex got up and walked round her desk. Olivia stood up and after an awkward few seconds they fell into an embrace and cried some more. Alex held on for dear life, whispering she was sorry over and over again. Olivia could do nothing but hold her, telling herself she was right in asking for just a friendship, and that's all she'd need or want. It was a good 5 minutes later when Alex finally stopped crying and stepped away from the hug. She looked into Olivia's face and wiped away the remaining tears from Olivia's cheek. Olivia nodded once then turned and walked away. Her heart felt a little lighter after their talk. In time things would be ok.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It had been a month since the talk in Alex's office, and things had relaxed a lot. Alex didn't fear walking into the squad room, and Olivia didn't ask Elliot to ring for warrants. They still weren't as close as they were before the incident, but there was no ice wall between them or invisible tension. They were both making an attempt to talk to each other during work, but that was as far as it went.

It was a Friday and things were quiet in Alex's office, she had no court today and was planning on heading home for the weekend. She hadn't seen her family since the reunion and although they seemed ok with her on the phone, she knew they were still disappointed with her actions. Whenever Alex used to be nervous or have a lot on her plate she used to call Olivia and they'd do lunch and forget or just talk. They hadn't done this since before the reunion and Alex had missed her friendship dearly. She knew Olivia wouldn't take the first step in their friendship after what Alex had said in her office, so Alex picked up her phone and text Olivia, asking if she wanted to do lunch. That way she wouldn't have to feel pressured into saying yes, and she wouldn't have to act ok if Olivia had said no.

A few short minutes later Olivia replied saying sure and she'd meet her in half an hour in their usual cafe. Alex arrived first and took the liberty of ordering Olivia her usual drink and herself a coffee. When Olivia arrived a few minutes after she sat down and smiled when her drink arrived a few short minutes after she had knowing Alex had remembered what she liked. The conversation wasn't as awkward as either thought it would have been. They talked easily, and even laughed at some of the cases Olivia had worked on over the past few weeks.

They'd talked about Olivia being roped into talking at Lizzie and Dickie's school next week, Alex laughing at the way the kids had begged and begged, Lizzie saying how cool it would be for her friends to know she was friends with a city hero, and Dickie just saying all his mates would be jealous because she was so pretty. How could she say no to that?

Olivia asked of Alex's plans at the weekend knowing she would probably get off early not having court. Alex was quiet at first, and told Olivia of her plans to head home for the weekend. She went on to say she'd not been home since the reunion and was quite nervous. Olivia had put her at ease like she used to and told her they were her family and they'd be fine with her. Alex wasn't so sure but when Olivia told her mum sometimes rang still and she knew Olivia was fine, they'd have no reason to not be ok with her.

"She still rings you?" Alex was a little shocked, one that her mum would still ring, and two that Olivia was still accepting the calls.

"Sure, she still calls once a week; don't worry about it, I like your mum, she treats me like I'm family even though I'm not, it's nice." Olivia smiled, a little embarrassed at her confession but it was true. She loved Alex's family; she didn't have any of her own. She thought at first it would have been strange but she had plenty to talk about with Emily, and Alex never came up in a discussion.

"So what are your plans this weekend?" Olivia had just finished ordering her food and looked over at Alex.

"Nothing really, I'm going back into the office, there are a few things with a case I need to tie up."

"Which case?" Alex frowned, she was sure most of their cases where either closed up or pending trial.

"Oh erm, you know that case with the woman who was mugged and raped on her morning jog?"

"The one who didn't want to press charges?"

"Yeah, well she rang me a few days ago asking if we could talk, but not at the station, so I'm going to see her tomorrow."

"Should you be going alone? I mean is Elliot going with you?"

"No it's just a talk, I'm hoping I can convince her to press charges, you never know she may just want to know what would happen if she did, or maybe she wants someone to talk too."

Alex nodded, but something didn't feel right. She didn't voice her opinion; afraid Olivia would have a goat her and tell her she could do what she wanted. They enjoyed the rest of their food and parted ways after paying. They gave each other a quick hug and a promise to meet for a catch up next week and left.

It was only four o'clock but Alex had decided to leave the office early, having finished her paper work for the week and some for Monday. So bid goodbye to some of her employees and set off towards her parent, having already loaded the car this morning. Feeling less anxious about seeing her family after her talk with Olivia, she began to settle down and relax; she was actually looking forward to seeing everyone.

When she pulled up to her parent's house in a few short hours, having not stopped on the way up, it was early evening. Her dad was waiting by the door, and helped her with her bag.

"Where's mum? " Alex was a little upset her mum hadn't been here to greet her like she always has done, she was starting to doubt what Olivia said about her family being ok with her now.

"She's dropping some stuff off in town, we weren't expecting you so early."

"Oh, well yeah, I didn't stop along the way, figured I'd get here sooner."

"Yes well not to worry she shouldn't be long. Though She'll be upset she wasn't here to greet you."

Alex smiled at this, her dad had put her at ease and she was beginning to relax again. After making their way through the house they went to the kitchen and her dad got out some wine glasses before pouring out three, one for her and her dad, and one for her mum knowing she'd be back any minute. Just as he'd finished pouring the front door opened and Alex heard her mum shout her name. He went to meet her by the door where her mum pulled her into a hug, holding her for a while before releasing her.

"It's so good to see you Lex, but you've lost a bit of weight, are you eating ok?"

Alex sighed before replying she was fine, and yes she was eating. Her mum scrutinized her for a few minutes before accepting the answer, and making her way to the kitchen to her husband. They settled down with their drinks and caught up on a month's worth of gossip before sitting down for dinner.


	14. Chapter 14

****Just a short chapter, I'm nearing the end of the story and just wanted this to tie a few things together****

Chapter 14

It was late Saturday afternoon and Alex had been enjoying a lovely day with her parents. They'd talked, laughed and her and her mum even cried a little, but she felt things were back on track again. She explained her fears to her mum about coming home and how she knew she'd disappointed them, and her mum told her they'd always love her and one error on her part wouldn't change that. Her mum had confessed to still calling Olivia, and when Alex asked why she said she couldn't explain it but she felt close to Olivia, and although she'd wished they could have worked it out, she was glad they were talking again.

Deciding to start afresh, she'd come clean to her parents about her and Olivia, explaining the pressure she'd been under to be in a relationship, how Olivia had always been at the back of her mind so that's why she said her name, and how she didn't even know that Olivia was gay until they'd been up here a few days.

To say her parents were shocked was an understatement. They apologised for making her feel like she had to pretend to be in a relationship to come home. Her mum felt guilty for her daughter feeling like that and they cried some more. Her mum then brought up the conversations she'd had with Olivia, in which Alex confessed that she knew nothing about until a few days before the reunion when she'd finally had the courage to ask Olivia to come with her. She talked about Olivia's reaction to Alex's confessions, how she laughed a little while and explained she already knew the situation.

Her mum and dad kept stealing glances at each other when Alex would talk about Olivia, her eyes brightening just a little bit more at the mention of her name. They had asked her why Olivia had played along with the phone calls, without even telling Alex she had been doing so. In which Alex's response was 'she said she wanted to help and she cared for me, then when we got here she told me she had been attracted to me for a while and saw this as a chance to finally tell me'. Her parents couldn't believe it. They explained they looked so natural together, like they'd spent a longer than the months they'd stated they had been together for.

Sunday came all too soon and Alex was packed and ready to leave, she'd text Olivia asking if she wanted a catch up later that day, and frowned when she'd still had no reply an hour later. Figuring she was at work, she rang the station to be told she'd not been in this weekend, and that funny feeling in the pit of her stomach grew. Having been unsuccessful at getting through to Olivia's cell and home phone, she rang Elliot, who she'd only just started talking to since the incident. She explained her worries and could hear the worrying tone in his voice when he said he'd go round to her place. She loaded her car and bid her parents goodbye, telling them she'd call when she heard off Olivia, and set off back to the city at a speed quicker than her usual.


	15. Author

Author's note

Sorry for the delay in updating this story and thank you for all the support and reviews. I'm just leaving this note to tell you that although I lost my muse for a while and was unsure of how I wanted the story to go, but at last I think I've figured it out and have written the first chapter and in the middle of the second. So please be patient with me, I assure you the updates are on the way and I haven't forgotten about this story.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Olivia's eyes fluttered open. She felt disorientated and her eye lids felt like a dead weight. Everywhere was hurting. The room had very little light coming through a small window just under the ceiling so Liv assumed she was in some kind of basement. She couldn't remember how she got here or much of what had happened. She remembered waking up Saturday and going for a run, then after going home to change she met up with Stacey, a woman who had been out for a run when she was mugged and raped. She had refused to press charges and no case was taken to trial. During the week she had rang Olivia saying she wanted to talk, so naturally Olivia agreed. She had met with Stacey just after 1pm in the coffee shop around the block from Stacey's apartment. Stacey didn't say anything that contributed towards the old case but seemed agitated and nervous most of the time. Olivia just assumed she was still anxious about being out and about after her attack, after all some women never got over it. After finishing their drinks and Olivia offered to walk Stacey home, hoping it would put her at ease. Stacey took a turn onto a street that Olivia didn't recognise so she asked Stacey where they were going, Stacey had explained she didn't feel safe in her old apartment thinking her attacker would get her there so she'd moved out. They walked up the stairs to the entrance of the apartment building and Olivia said goodbye and to ring her if she needed anything. That had been the last thing she remembered before she woke up where she was now.

...

Elliot hadn't left the precinct since he'd left Olivia's apartment. He'd sat at Olivia's desk going through all her case files that were on her desk, hoping to see something that would stand out and help him now. Olivia hadn't been answering her phone all morning which wouldn't be a concern for a normal person, but this was Olivia and she always answered her phone. When Alex had told him that Olivia had mentioned going to see someone from an old case on Saturday he felt his stomach tighten, something wasn't sitting right with him. He knew she could take care of herself but she'd never, not answer her phone.

He'd been at his desk since Alex called this morning and so far nothing stood out. He'd been combing through random pieces of papers for the past few hours with no luck. He's explained to Cragen and the squad about the call Alex made to him and how Olivia hadn't been heard off since she left work Friday. The guys weren't too worried until Elliot had told them Olivia was apparently meeting up with a previous victim on Saturday, which usually she would have told him about. After explaining that she wasn't at home and her doorman hadn't seen her since she left sometime Saturday lunch time, they were told finding out where Olivia was a priority, and sent Elliot down to TARU to see if they could get a fix off her mobile or some idea where she was last known to be.

...

"Hello, is anyone there? Please" Olivia knew the chances of someone actually hearing her where slim but she had to try. Pulling with all her strength, Olivia tried to loosen the hand that was chained to a pipe coming down from the ceiling but gave up after feeling exhausted after only a couple of minutes. Knowing she would need any and all strength if someone came to her she settled back and let her eyes close, thinking of her hopeful rescue sometime soon and hoping she wouldn't be there much longer and that someone knew she was missing.

...

Alex went barrelling through the 1-6 precinct and directly into the SVU squad room. She saw Elliot hunched over Olivia's desk, reading through what looked like a report. He looked up as soon as he heard someone enter and noticed Alex looking flustered. He gave her a tight smile and nodded towards the chair next to Olivia's desk, motioning for her to sit down.

"Anything?" Alex was the first to break the silence, her question almost rhetorical as she knew she would have heard something if there was anything to know.

"No nothing" Elliot sighed before continuing "TARU came up empty, her phone was last on a couple of blocks from her apartment, at another apartment building, but then it was switched off. Nothing turned up at the scene and no one recognised Olivia when we asked around inside the building. Did she tell you anything at all about who she was seeing?"

"No, just that she was going to meet up with a victim and hopefully get her to change her mind about pressing charges. By the way Liv talked, it sounded like this person contacted her. All I know was that it was from an old case, couple of months back".

"See, I've been going through all the case files in her desk and there's nothing, I just don't understand, what case could it have been?"

"It was the jogger case" Alex could have sworn she'd mentioned that to Elliot on the phone when ringing with her concerns.

"What jogger case Alex? There are no case files for any cases involving joggers here"

"The one from a couple of months back, a young woman was jogging, when she got attacked in the park. Liv suspected her boyfriend and we're pretty sure it was but the woman wouldn't press charges, Sarah...or erm...god her name began with an 'S' that much I'm sure of."

Elliot began a quick look through the files again and again he came up empty. Telling Alex there were no such case files, and he remembers no such case, Alex suggests that maybe he was off that day and wasn't a part of it.

"I'm going round to Liv's you know what she's like, maybe she took the file home, it has to be somewhere."

"Ok sounds good, I'm gonna speak to the guys, see if they remember the case and bring the captain up to speed, don't worry Alex, we'll find her, she's Liv, she'll be ok."


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Alex sweet talked the doorman of Olivia's apartment building into letting her into Liv's apartment. Thankfully he was the regular guy and met Alex on a few occasions. Once he'd opened her apartment door she thanked him repeatedly and walked in, shutting the door behind her. Everything was exactly as it was the last time she was here, everything was tidy and clean, but all distinctly Olivia. Unlike her own apartment, Olivia's felt like a home, and Alex only had to close her eyes and she could vividly imagine herself sitting curled up on the sofa with Olivia wrapped around her.

Shaking the soon to be non PG thoughts from her mind, Alex began a meticulous search of the apartment for files Olivia would have taken home. She knew Olivia would never leave them out in the open, in case somehow her apartment got broken in to, so the only question was where would she keep them? Starting in the living area of the apartment, she searched the coffee table and the small book shelf situated under the window. Finding nothing, she searched under the sofa pillows and behind the dvds on the shelf by the TV. Still nothing. Alex was beginning to wonder if Olivia would maybe keep them in her bedroom when she spotted the small desk half covered with neatly folded clothes in the corner. Looking under the clothes she saw nothing but noticed the drawer on the desk was locked. After another hour of looking Alex somehow managed to find the drawer key in the tea pot in the kitchen, forever thankful that Olivia used tea bags instead of leaves.

Alex found the file she was looking for and smiled even wider when she saw scribbled on a post it note the location in which she was meeting with Stacey. Feeling like they were finally making way in the investigation she put the file away in her bag locked up the drawer again and kept they key As soon as she double checked she'd closed the apartment door tight she pulled out her phone to ring Elliot.

...

The next time Olivia opened her eyes, the room was dark. There was very little light coming in, which she assumed was from a street light up on the street. She felt disorientated and weak, thinking she'd been her for a few days now and having nothing to eat or drink. No one had come to see her and she was deeply confused by the turn of events. Who kidnaps someone but then leaves them alone? She hoped the guys realised she was missing. She's sure someone would have by now. Her thought drifted back to Alex. Would Alex be missing her? Would she be helping with the search? Did she even know? She knew Alex had plans to go home so she started to doubt that Alex even knew she was gone. Her arm that was chained to the pipe had lost its feeling a while ago and Olivia was trying her best to get the sensation back, although with the chain as it was there was little she could do. She sat there contemplating a few more things before she started to feel tired once more, realising the lack of food and drink were taking its toll on her body, she allowed her eyes to shut, hoping someone, anyone, would find her soon.

...

It was another 7 hours after Alec had left Olivia's apartment and spoken to Elliot that they had the cctv from the cafe where Olivia had met with Stacey. After speaking one of the workers who happened to remember Olivia and Stacey, but only because he thought Olivia was 'a babe' to which Alex, who had accompanied Elliot to the cafe had scowled at. He also said the person with her looked a little on edge which peaked Elliot's curiosity. After thanking the staff they left with the cctv and made their way back to the precinct.

Watching through the cctv with the guys they spotted Olivia in the cafe easily. She looked a little stiff, maybe she had sensed something was wrong. A thought everyone had but no one voiced. Surely if she thought there was something off she would have left? Watching them leave the cafe they could see the direction she headed in with Stacey and went to pull up any cctv from that area

Whilst they were waiting for the results, they searched the database for Stacey Sullivan. Having found her name and address in the file earlier, they had sent someone to the apartment but the apartment manager had explained she'd moved out o month or so ago and left no forwarding address. They had also found the details on the boyfriend and personally gone to his apartment only to be told the same thing from that apartment manager, but the guy had moved out only a few days ago. They had missed him, but couldn't help think maybe they took Olivia with them. Feeling less than enthusiastic about their findings they left the apartment building and went back to the precinct.

It was early hours of Wednesday morning and this would be the fourth day that Olivia had been missing for. Tensions were high and very little was being said in the office. They were trying to dig up anything they could on Stacey and her boyfriend but had very little to go on. It was all gloomy until Morales came running in saying he thinks he found something on the cctv.

When they were all situated inside the department used by TARU, Morales showed them what he had.

"So the cctv from the streets, traffic cams, cash machines etc came in a few hours ago, and it's taken me a while but I think I have something for you. Knowing she left the cafe I managed to pick her up on a camera a block away from the cafe by a traffic cam. Then I got her a block away again from cctv from a small grocery store. There was nothing for a while until this..."

It was hard to tell but from bad cctv footage from outside a corner convenient store you could make out two females standing at the bottom of some steps outside an apartment building. One woman is talking and the other just standing there. Then a woman starts walking first and the other starts walking up the steps. It was a distant image but the street on this side of the road was fairly emptied to the picture wasn't too obscured. You could see the first woman enter the building and the second woman about to turn away when it looks like she's being pulled into the apartment building.

"Oh my god" Alex was staring at the screen even after the footage had finished.

"It's ok Alex, this is good, we've got something to go on"

"Good? Elliot she got dragged into that apartment building, why didn't she scream or last out?"

"I think I can help with that, It's not amazingly clear but if you look closely when she turns around to make her way back down the steps after walking the woman up them, it looks like an arm or something touches her on the back near the neck, it's too poor quality to get much else but she could have been drugged." Morales' explanation was plausible. Elliot asked if they could get anything else off the footage, like if they took her anywhere from there, or if she was seen being taken from the building at night. When Morales said they hadn't got that far but they were working on it they seemed doubtful again. If it was dark they wouldn't get much if anything from the poor quality cctv. He scribbled down the address and passed it to Elliot who looked at it with a darkened expression.

"Elliot, what's wrong?"

"It's the same address Alex, as earlier."

"What address?"

"The boyfriend's apartment building, that's where she was dragged in to. We need a warrant to search it-"

"Say no more I'm going to ring and have one ready for when you get there, get the guys together I'm off to see a judge, hopefully Donnelly won't murder me on the spot" and with that she turned around, phone already to her ear and left the precinct. You could hear her voice getting lower the further she walked away. Elliot took his phone out and called Munch and told him to get the guys together as well as Cragen, they had a lead.

...


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Alex pulled up at the apartment complex with the warrant firmly held in her hand. She quickly hopped out of the car and headed straight to Cragen. The guys were just getting ready to go in having only got here themselves.

"Got it. One warrant for his apartment and a warrant to search any area such as the basement if the apartment manager refuses to co-operate but hopefully he won't."

"Nice work Alex, we were about to go in and search those areas anyway, so I'll send a team to the apartment and a team to the basement. We'll let you know as soon as we know something, but here, take this radio so you can hear what's going on."

"Thanks Don, I appreciate it." With a simple nod as a 'you're welcome' gesture Cragen turned round and went over the group of offices which included Elliot, Fin and Munch and put on a vest for precaution. The officers entered the building one by one, Cragen in the lead with the warrant in his hand.

Alex could hear the radio talk, and heard them clearing the office, the apartment and the roof. Her heart was dropping thinking this was all a waste of time when she heard someone mention that they couldn't get access to a room off the basement. She heard Cragen shout to get the super down there and ask for a key. When he came down and said he didn't have one and the room shouldn't be locked anyway, she heard a few mumbling sentences before she heard a loud crash, they had kicked the door down.

Time seemed to go so slow Alex could have sworn it had stopped. What felt like hours was a mere few seconds before she heard a strained voice over the radio shouting for a medic. Her heart rate tripled as the medics rushed into the building, bags and a stretcher with them. Alex moved closer to the building, praying for the first time in years that everything was ok. No one had mentioned Olivia by name but she was sure it was her, it had to be. She willed her feet to move into the building to check but she was now frozen to the spot. A hundred and one thought racing through her heard '_Was it Olivia? Is she alive? Is she ok? How hurt is she?'_

It felt like a life time but five minutes later the paramedics came out with Olivia strapped to a stretcher, she wasn't completely covered so Alex took it as a good sign, meaning she was alive. Following the stretcher were a glum looking group of SVU detectives, they looked drained, physically and emotionally.

As they were loading her into the ambulance Elliot walked over to Alex.

"Look, why don't you ride over, we'll take your car to the hospital for you. I know how much she means to you."

Silence.

"Alex...hey Alex. Come on, ride with her." Alex's mind was completely blank, seeing Olivia, her Olivia like that on the stretcher broke her heart. She vaguely heard what Elliot was saying, and it wasn't until she felt him guide her towards the ambulance and help her into it next to Olivia did she finally break out of her trance.

"We'll meet you there ok." It was the final thing Elliot said before the door was slammed shut, sirens turned on and they sped off towards the hospital. Alex took a few minutes to pull herself together before finally looking over to where the paramedic was working on Olivia. The paramedic had finished hooking Olivia up to the monitors hand had attached a drip into her.

"What's wrong with her?" Alex's voice was small and frail, hesitant to ask but knowing she needed to know.

"She wasn't conscious when we found her, severely dehydrated, probably starved, she has not out ward signs of injury but her body seems to have started shutting down to preserve itself. The human body depending on its physical state can probably go over a week without water, I was told she'd been gone since Saturday? In the likelihood she ate Saturday morning she has only theoretically been without food or drink for four days. She's in a bad way though, but it could have been worse."

Alex nodded along in all the right places but her focus never left Olivia's face. She'd moved further up the ambulance to be nearer to her and was able to take Olivia's hand in her own. She could already notice the weight loss on Olivia. Her hair was mattered to the side of her head, and she was covered in dust or dirt. She brushed some hair from the side of Liv's face and breathed out deeply. Olivia was alive, and although she wasn't healthy at the moment, they would work on it. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Relief coursed through every vain in her body, it may not be over, but she sure hoped the worst part was.

When the ambulance came to a stop the door was pulled open and there were doctors and nurses at the exit waiting for their new patient. Liv was quickly whisked away and Alex was momentarily left standing there until a nurse came and showed her to the family room. She asked Alex a few questions and came back with some forms, asking if she could fill in what she knew. Alex complied, knowing it would be a good idea to focus on something for the time being, and what she didn't know Elliot would fill in. When asked if she was related Alex quickly rattled off she was Olivia's girlfriend, not wanting any medical information to pass her because she wasn't a relative.

Five minutes later the rest of the SVU squad and Cragen were led into the family room by a different nurse and immediately asked Alex if there was any news.

"No, I haven't heard anything yet, she was stable but unconscious in the ambulance, and they hooked her up to an I.V drip. Her heart rate was low as well as everything else. They said she was severely dehydrated and probably starved. They couldn't see any other injuries on her but they wouldn't know for sure until they got here. What the hell happened in there?"

"When we went into the basement we were about to call it clear, but noticed another door behind some boxes and storage shelves. It was locked and when we couldn't get a key we kicked it down. At first it looked empty but when we stepped in properly we saw her in the corner behind the door. She was chained to a pipe, her arm was suspended above her head. We could barely manage to feel for a pulse. The room stunk, and she had been sitting on the concrete floor. From the state of the place and Olivia, it looked like she'd been left there since she was taken. As far as we could tell it didn't look like she'd been physically harmed but I guess we can't tell until the doctors come back."

Alex could feel the relief flow from Elliot when he said she didn't look like she'd been physically harmed. No one wanted that to happen to anyone, but to one of their own, to Liv, they couldn't deal with that. Everyone sat in silence for the next half hour when suddenly the door opened and in walked a nurse and a Doctor.

"Family of Olivia Benson?"


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Everyone was on their feet in seconds waiting to hear about Olivia's condition. The doctor smiled at the amount of love he could feel radiating off this group of police officers, he always admired how they were each other's family.

"Well I'm happy to say that she will make a full recovery. She has a few cracked ribs, some torn ligaments and slight tendon damage to her shoulder, she was extremely dehydrated and her body had started going into self preservation mode but all the conditions are being treated as we speak. She should be fine in a matter of weeks. The ribs will take a while longer but it's nothing I'm sure she won't be able to handle with the support of so many of you."

"C..can we see her?" After hearing the doctor say Olivia would be ok, the tiredness had finally settled into Alex's body. It didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"She's been given a mild sedative to let her body rest but you can go in quickly and see her if you want, she won't wake up anytime soon though."

"hey Alex, how about you go and see Liv before you get off, I think we could all do with some sleep so we can see her when she wakes up."

"No, I'm staying." She turns to look at the doctor and nurse "I'm sorry, I'm not leaving her, I'll stay on the chair but I'm not leaving." The doctor and nurse smiled at Alex and said they'd have a cot brought into the room and left to make arrangements. As soon as they'd gone Alex turned towards the guys and asked if they wanted to see her before she went in. They said it was ok, and that they were going to rest and that they'd see her when she woke up. Then they proceeded to tell Alex to ring immediately as she woke up. As they filed out of the family room they each walked past Alex and told her in various ways 'Don't mess it up this time Cabot' as well as 'Don't hurt her again' 'It's about time, Alex' all to which she replied she wouldn't ever dream of it and se knew how lucky she was.

After the group had said their goodbyes and left Alex pulled out her phone an hit two on her speed dial. After a couple of rings a groggy voice answered at the other end.

"Hello, Cabot residence"

"Mum..." Emily Cabot immediately knew there had been news about Olivia. She had been in constant touch as soon as they knew Olivia was missing and the whole family and been exchanging worried calls since. Only Emily though had actually spoken to Alex, no one else wanting to worry her. Emily would pass on any information to the family who had all fallen in love with Olivia when they met all those months ago.

"Alex baby, what's wrong is it Olivia?" Emily couldn't tell the exact tone in Alex's voice so was on edge waiting for her daughter to reply.

"They found her mum. She...she's going to be ok, sore but ok."

"Oh thank god dear, thank god. Where are you now? You sound so tired baby girl"

"I'm at the hospital, we've only just spoken to the doctor, it's going to be a full recovery though mum, and I'm staying here with her."

"I wouldn't expect you to leave her sweetheart; I know how much she means to you."

"Do you think it's too late mum? I hurt her so much. But I, I can't lose her."

"And you won't, she loves you Alex, I can tell when we talk on the phone, she skirts around the topic of you but she has nothing but love for you, you just have to be patient, show her how much you care."

"I will mum; I'm not letting her go again. I'm going to go now, I think the nurses have set up my cot, I'll give you a call later on during the day."

"Ok Lexi, I think me and your dad will come down tomorrow to see her if that's ok, and she's up for visitors of course."

"I think she'd really appreciate that mum. Well I'm going to go, speak soon mum, love you."

"Love you too Lexi, now rest."

When Alex made her way to Olivia's room, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Olivia lying there on the bed. She looked tired even in her sleep, and her colouring was pale. But she couldn't help but feel relaxed at the steady beat of the heart machine next to the bed. She sat on the chair near Olivia and took her hand in her own, careful to mind where the drip was attached to.

"Oh Olivia" She spoke in hushed tones, even though she knew she wouldn't wake up her love.

"I'm so glad you're ok, I've been sick with worry, I don't know what I'd do without you Liv, but I promise I'm not going to mess this up, and I'm not going to give up on you. I love you. I'll see you when you wake."

She kissed the back of Olivia's hand once and settled herself in for a sleep she so desperately needed after the longest few days of her life, hopefully things would only look up from now on.

***Just a short chapter, I thought like I needed to include a small exchange between the guys and Alex, as well as including Alex's family that I hadn't mentioned previously before i continue with the rest* Thank you for the continued reading and support.**


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